Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading (/ˈrɛdɪŋ/ RED-ing; Pennsylvania German: Reddin) is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allentown.[7][8][9][10] Reading is located in the southeastern part of the state and is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area, which had 420,152 residents in 2020.
This article is about the city in Berks County, Pennsylvania. For other uses, see Reading, Pennsylvania (disambiguation).
Reading
Reddin (Pennsylvania German)
United States
1748
September 15, 1783[2]
March 16, 1847[2]
Reading, England
Eddie Moran (D)
10.08 sq mi (26.11 km2)
9.84 sq mi (25.49 km2)
0.24 sq mi (0.62 km2)
305 ft (93 m)
95,112
9,662.91/sq mi (3,730.88/km2)
2,874.3/sq mi (1,109.8/km2)
428,849 (US: 126th)
Readingite, Redingensian
42-63624
1948[6]
Reading gives its name to the now-defunct Reading Company, also known as the Reading Railroad, and since acquired by Conrail, that played a vital role in transporting anthracite coal from the Pennsylvania's Coal Region to major East Coast metropolitan markets through the Port of Philadelphia for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Reading Railroad is one of the four railroad properties in the classic U.S. version of the Monopoly board game. Reading was one of the first localities where outlet shopping became a tourist industry. It has been known as "The Pretzel City" because numerous local pretzel bakeries are based in the city and its suburbs; currently, Bachman, Dieffenbach, Tom Sturgis, and Unique Pretzel bakeries call the Reading area home. In recent years, the Reading area has become a destination for cyclists with more than 125 miles of trails in five major preserves; the region is an International Mountain Bicycling Association ride center.[11]
According to 2010 U.S. census data, Reading had the highest share of citizens living in poverty in the nation among cities with populations exceeding 65,000.[12] Reading's poverty rate fell over the next decade.[13] Reading's poverty rate in the five-year American Community Survey, published in 2018, showed that 35.4% of the city's residents were below the poverty line, or less "than the infamous 41.3% from 2011, when Reading was declared the poorest small city in the nation."[14]
Reading is located 38.8 miles (62.4 km) southwest of Allentown and 62.9 miles (101.2 km) northwest of Philadelphia.
Government and politics[edit]
Steve Lutz won five seats on the Reading city council in the 1911 election and their mayoral candidate, Elwood Leffler, almost won causing accusations of election fraud conducted against him. The Republican and Democratic parties united against the Socialists in the 1917 local elections. Reading became the third city in the United States to have a local government controlled by the Socialists after the 1927 election including the election of J. Henry Stump as mayor and James H. Maurer to the city council. After the 1929 election the Socialists gained control over the city council. The Socialists lost support during the Great Depression and were defeated by a united Republican and Democratic ticket in the 1931 election. Stump was defeated by Heber Ermentrout and the party was reduced to two seats on the city council. The Socialists lost their two seats on the city council in the 1933 election.[48]
Reading School District provides elementary and middle schools for the city's children. As of 2023, Reading Senior High School, serving grades nine through 12, is the largest traditional high school in Pennsylvania with a student population of 5,498.[49]
Three high schools serve the city:
As of 2012, according to a report in The New York Times, approximately eight percent of Reading's residents have a college degree, compared to a national average of 28 percent.[50]
Four institutions of higher learning are located in Reading:
In media[edit]
The book and movie Rabbit, Run and the other three novels of the Rabbit series by John Updike were set in fictionalized versions of Reading and nearby Shillington, called Brewer and Olinger respectively. Updike was born in Reading and lived in nearby Shillington until he was thirteen. He also makes reference to the Brewer suburb of Mount Judge, equivalent to Mount Penn, east of Reading.
The play Sweat by Lynn Nottage is set in Reading.[77][78]
The movie Goon: Last of the Enforcers features Reading as the home of the rival team, the Reading Wolf Dogs.
In season nine, episode four of the sitcom, Seinfeld, the character George Costanza (Jason Alexander) lies that Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is moving to Reading, Pennsylvania to live with her grandparents.
The City of Reading and Reutlingen, Germany are sister cities which participate in student exchanges. Students from Reading High School can apply to become a part of the exchange and travel to Reutlingen for two weeks (mid-September to early October) and in return host German exchange students in the spring. Kutztown University also has a program with Reutlingen.
Reading is twinned with: